Nielsen: Android Still Hot, iPhone Even Hotter (in Q4)

Don't worry Android smartphone fans, now that your platform of choice is on top (in terms of market share), it's probably going to stay there for awhile. The latest data from market research firm Nielsen bear this out, pegging 46.3 percent of all smartphone owners choosing Android in the fourth quarter of 2011. At the same time, it was the iPhone 4S that proved to be the uber popular device last quarter.

"The high-profile launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S in the Fall had an enormous impact on the proportion of smartphone owners who chose an Apple iPhone," Nielsen said in a blog post. "Among recent acquirers, meaning those who said they got a new device within the past three months, 44.5 percent of those surveyed in December said they chose an iPhone, compared to just 25.1 percent in October. Furthermore, 57 percent of new iPhone owners surveyed in December said they got an iPhone 4S."


Looking at landscape as a whole, Nielsen also said 46 percent of U.S. mobile consumers wielded a smartphone in the fourth quarter of 2011, and that the number is growing quickly. Some 60 percent of those who purchased a new device within the last three months chose a smartphone over a feature phone, according to Nielsen.